11.1. My processes won't migrate

Help process XYZ doesn't migrate. Moshe Bar explains below why some processes migrate and why some don't. But before that you can always look in /proc/$pid/ there often is a file cantmove which will tell you why a certain process can't migrate.

Processes can also be locked You can check if a process is locked with: cat /proc/$PID/lock where $PID is the processid of the process in question. Now let's Moshe do his explanation :

Ok, this simple program should always migrate if launched more times than number of local CPUs. So for a 2-way SMP system, starting this program 3 times will start migration if the other nodes in the cluster have at least the same speed like the local ones:
int main() {
    unsigned int i;
    while (1) {
        i++;
    }
    return 0;
}
On a Pentium 800Mhz CPU it takes quite a while to overflow.

This sample program with content like this will never migrate:
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/ipc.h>
#include <sys/shm.h>

...

key_t key; /* key to be passed to shmget() */
int shmflg; /* shmflg to be passed to shmget() */
int shmid; /* return value from shmget() */
int size; /* size to be passed to shmget() */

...

key = ...
size = ...
shmflg) = ...

if ((shmid = shmget (key, size, shmflg)) == -1) {
   perror("shmget: shmget failed"); exit(1); } else {
   (void) fprintf(stderr, "shmget: shmget returned %d\n", shmid);
   exit(0);
  }
...

Program using piples like this do migrate nicely:

int pdes[2];

pipe(pdes);
if ( fork() == 0 )
  { /* child */
                                 close(pdes[1]); /* not required */
                                 read( pdes[0]); /* read from parent */
                                 .....
                 }
else
                 { close(pdes[0]); /* not required */
                                 write( pdes[1]); /* write to child */
                                 .....
                 }
Programs using pthreads since version 2.4.17 do migrate:
//
// Very simple program demonstrating the use of threads.
//
// Command-line argument is P (number of threads).
//
// Each thread writes "hello" message to standard output, with
//   no attempt to synchronize.  Output will likely be garbled.
//
#include <iostream>
#include <cstdlib>              // has exit(), etc.
#include <unistd.h>             // has usleep()
#include <pthread.h>            // has pthread_ routines

// declaration for function to be executed by each thread
void * printHello(void * threadArg);

// ---- Main program -------------------------------------------------

int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {

  if (argc < 2) {
    cerr << "Usage:  " << argv[0] << " numThreads\n";
    exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
  }
  int P = atoi(argv[1]);

  // Set up IDs for threads (need a separate variable for each
  //   since they're shared among threads).
  int * threadIDs = new int[P];
  for (int i = 0; i < P; ++i)
    threadIDs[i] = i;

  // Start P new threads, each with different ID.
  pthread_t * threads = new pthread_t[P];
  for (int i = 0; i < P; ++i)
    pthread_create(&threads[i], NULL, printHello,
                   (void *) &threadIDs[i]);

  // Wait for all threads to complete.
  for (int i = 0; i < P; ++i)
    pthread_join(threads[i], NULL);

  // Clean up and exit.
  delete [] threadIDs;
  delete [] threads;
  cout << "That's all, folks!\n";
  return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

// ---- Code to be executed by each thread ---------------------------

// pre:  *threadArg is an integer "thread ID".
// post:  "hello" message printed to standard output.
//        return value is null pointer.
void * printHello(void * threadArg) {
  int * myID = (int *) threadArg;
  cout << "hello, world, ";
  // pointless pause, included to make the effects of
  //   synchronization (or lack thereof) more obvious
  usleep(10);
  cout << "from thread " << *myID << endl;
  pthread_exit((void* ) NULL);
}

Programs using all kinds of file descriptors, including sockets do migrate (sockets are not migrated with the process however, files are migrated if using oMFS/DFSA)

(all above code is by Moshe as Moshe Bar or by Moshe as CTO of Qlusters, Inc.)

Please also refer to the man pages of mosix , they also give an adequate explanation why processes don't migrate.

If for some reason your processes stay locked while they shouldn't To allow locked processes tp migrate simply put
# tell shells to allow subprocs to migrate to other nodes
echo 0 > /proc/self/lock
into /etc/profile Warning : This fix will allow all process to migrate not just the ones you want. To only allow specific process to migrate use 'mosrun -l' to unlock only the desired process.